Book 4 | Agent 34 and the Last Gem

Chapter 10 | Nightmare for the Future

Braunick stumbled, quivering at the sight of his brother.

"Please!" Braunick shouted. "Don't do it.."

Agent 34 snapped as his body turned to a strange color, increasing in size. The outline of his body was constantly changing to a different color, each color representing a different gem. He began to rise into the air, arms and legs spreading apart like they had a mind of their own. His head leaned back and his finger pointed at Braunick, the words coming from his mouth almost on his own.

"Give me my memories back!" The powerful Agent 34 shouted.

"Okay, okay, whatever you want!" Braunick fell to his knees, inching his way closer to his brother. He shook at every inch of his body, eyes quivering with tears from the realization of what he had truly done to Renya and the inhabitants of the continent.

Braunick entered Agent 34's mind, who expected him to give his memories back. Instead, Braunick attacked Agent 34 mentally. The elf didn't expect the attack and lunched backwards physically. Braunick jumped on top of him and punched him straight in the cheek, sending him out of the air and onto the ground with a thud. Braunick quickly removed a gem and crushed it into his palm, power going inside him.

The two battled until Braunick was somehow able to overcome his brother. He threw a giant punch right into Agent 34's chest, sending him flying backwards and hitting the castle walls. All gems that Agent 34 possessed fell out of his body at that very moment, falling to the ground and rolling to the evil man that had caused all his suffering. The rainbow glow surrounding the elf disappeared, the power surging in his body gone. He had nothing.

Braunick consumed all of the gems at once, laughing at his victory. "I did it," Braunick cried. "I did it! I win! See, evil isn't evil. Good is evil,"

And with that, Braunick extended his hand to his brother. "Join me," He stated. "or this is what will happen to you in battle. You won before, but I came back. I always do. I always come back. There's no end. Put an end to it and join me so we can have a constant rule over Renya,"

"You think that bandanna will save you? I have eyes everywhere. Good luck when you reach Renya. You'll need it,"

Agent 34 jerked awake, sweat dripping from every inch of his body. His breaths came heavily, chest heaving. He wiped off his brow, sending out one last huff and lowering himself back onto his mattress slowly.

"What the hell was that," He asked himself. He jumped right back up when the door creaked open and in walked Ismara, a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay?" She asked. "I heard something coming from your room,"

"I'm—" He glanced down at the pool of sweat he sat in and back up at the elf standing in his doorway. "—I'm fine. It's nothing,"

"You sure?" She cocked her head to the side a little, bit quite believing him.

"Yes, I'm fine," Agent 34 confirmed for her. "Just. Just a nightmare,"

Ismara nodded, taking a look around the room before exiting and shutting the door behind her. Agent 34 slowly lowered himself back down onto his mattress, his eyes shutting almost on their own.

Almost.

~ ~ ~

Agent 34's wake next morning certainly wasn't a pleasant one. He had an uneasy feeling that had clamped itself to his gut, refusing to leave. Not even sleep made it leave. He felt that that nightmare was important, not just a bad dream. He thought that maybe it was a warning from Braunick himself, a way to either give him a glimpse of the future or just rile him up. Most likely the second part.

The elf put a fresh set of clothes on and finished his routine by slipping his purple and black Destiny armor over his body. He brushed his teeth and tried to use a spell to fix his hair but forgot he no longer was strong enough to cast a spell without a wand. He growled to himself as Agent 34 went through his stuff and had to find his staff that he hadn't used in over a year because their gems allowed them to cast magic without using a wand or staff.

With his hair done, Agent 34 strolled out of his room with an uneasy feeling. He felt as if he was being watched at that very moment by an unknown presence. The elf immediately went to Thad's room, but discovered the door wide open and no one inside. He didn't dare look through his things, and went to the top floor of the ship to look for him.

Thad was sitting by the edge of the ship, eating a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. There was no one else up there, only Sercon who silently looked over at the mainland with worry covering his face.

"Thad?" Agent 34 said quickly once the elf was standing beside him. "I–I need to talk to you,"

"Alright then," Thad stood up out of the chair he was sitting in and sat his now empty bowl in it. "What's going on?"

"Thad, last night something strange happened," The elf explained. Sercon's attention was directed from the continent of Renya to Agent 34 quickly, listening to what he was about to say. "I had a nightmare, but it was strange. I think it was a way that Braunick reached out to me. At the end he told me to join him,"

"What happened in the dream?"

"I had all of the gems and I told him to give my memories back, but he tricked me and took them all. He then said something along the lines of "This is what will happen to you if you don't stop" or something like that. Then he told me to join him,"

"It's worse than I thought," The dwarf concluded. "It most likely was him. It's easy to manipulate the mind when it's in a weak state, such as when it's sleeping. If anything, that is when he will most likely strike if he is to do anything at all. Order Marque to make your bandanna quickly. After that I will send a group out to the mainland to get some survivors and hopefully some that know cursebreaking. I'm worried that the other ships full of a few women and children from the Zena aren't gonna make it. They should've been here by now,"

"Maybe we should go search for them instead," Agent 34 suggested. "They could've been lost," 

"That's the least of my worries," He stated. "I wouldn't appoint someone who doesn't know the waters as captain, but okay. You, the Ar'guals, and whoever you want will take a dragon and go search the waters then go the mainland and try to find some survivors,"